gmb45
8th January, 2010, 07:29 AM
Television viewers will soon be able to watch Sky television or films on Blu-ray DVDs anywhere in their house and even on a smart phone, ending the need to buy multiple boxes and players.
Instead of having to buy a Sky box for every television and more than one DVD or Blu-ray player, consumers will be able to watch content from their main sitting room anywhere in the house ? be it a laptop in the kitchen, a standard television in the spare room or even a smart phone in the bedroom.
Users simply have to plug a special box in to the back of the main Sky box and Blu-ray player, which then beams the contents of the main sitting room television to any wireless device in the house.
The device, an Axar box, is the invention of a small British company called Provision. It is showcasing its technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, after winning a competition organised by the UK Trade and Investment to find the best British technology companies.
The Axar box is expected to cost about ?200, but fall dramatically in price if the technology can be integrated into set-top boxes or subscription television boxes.
One of the judges of competition, Sean Hannam, editor of trade bible ERT, said: "No one wants to buy endless boxes and wires for every television in the house. Having just one hub has its attractions.
"Wireless televisions are going to be one of the big themes in consumer electronics over the next year or two."
The box can replace a householder's Freeview box and does not need any internet connection to work. It takes the high definition content playing on the Blu-ray player, Sky box or on Freeview, encodes it, and then beams it wirelessly around the house.
Any wireless device, once a piece of software has been downloaded, can then receive the broadcasts. Old television sets, which are not wireless, can still watch the content with a receiver box plugged into the back.
Steve Cliffe, Provision's chief, executive said: "The attractive thing for me, is that when my children kick me out of the sitting room because they want to watch a DVD, I can still watch my subscription sports channel in another room.
"Or I can kick my children out, and reclaim my sitting room."
Analysts said they were sceptical that the box was powerful enough to beam HD programmes to the far reaches of a house without there being problems.
Paul O'Dononvan, analyst at Gartner, said: "The problem with home networking is that you can never guarantee it will work in every room in the house. Five years after Wi-Fi hit the market in the UK, 35 per cent of wireless products were being returned to shops because consumers were not satisfied with them."
Mr Cliffe insisted that his company, set up by two engineers from Bristol University, had developed the most sophisticated encoding, ensuring the HD film or broadcast would not break-up or become pixilated. "The quality is stunning, and the signal can run to 400 meters without any walls." Even with walls, he promised it would work in a house as large as Buckingham Palace.
The one downside to the device is that ? in order to keep Sky, Virgin and the other subscription broadcasters happy ? consumers can only watch one channel at a time.
So while they can watch a Blu-ray Disc in the sitting room, and a Sky programme in the kitchen, if another member of the family wants to watch Sky on their laptop, it will have to be the same channel as the one being beamed into the kitchen.
Mr Cliffe said Provision's technology was still preferable for consumers rather than have the subscription television company drill holes in the wall in order to install a second box.
Instead of having to buy a Sky box for every television and more than one DVD or Blu-ray player, consumers will be able to watch content from their main sitting room anywhere in the house ? be it a laptop in the kitchen, a standard television in the spare room or even a smart phone in the bedroom.
Users simply have to plug a special box in to the back of the main Sky box and Blu-ray player, which then beams the contents of the main sitting room television to any wireless device in the house.
The device, an Axar box, is the invention of a small British company called Provision. It is showcasing its technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, after winning a competition organised by the UK Trade and Investment to find the best British technology companies.
The Axar box is expected to cost about ?200, but fall dramatically in price if the technology can be integrated into set-top boxes or subscription television boxes.
One of the judges of competition, Sean Hannam, editor of trade bible ERT, said: "No one wants to buy endless boxes and wires for every television in the house. Having just one hub has its attractions.
"Wireless televisions are going to be one of the big themes in consumer electronics over the next year or two."
The box can replace a householder's Freeview box and does not need any internet connection to work. It takes the high definition content playing on the Blu-ray player, Sky box or on Freeview, encodes it, and then beams it wirelessly around the house.
Any wireless device, once a piece of software has been downloaded, can then receive the broadcasts. Old television sets, which are not wireless, can still watch the content with a receiver box plugged into the back.
Steve Cliffe, Provision's chief, executive said: "The attractive thing for me, is that when my children kick me out of the sitting room because they want to watch a DVD, I can still watch my subscription sports channel in another room.
"Or I can kick my children out, and reclaim my sitting room."
Analysts said they were sceptical that the box was powerful enough to beam HD programmes to the far reaches of a house without there being problems.
Paul O'Dononvan, analyst at Gartner, said: "The problem with home networking is that you can never guarantee it will work in every room in the house. Five years after Wi-Fi hit the market in the UK, 35 per cent of wireless products were being returned to shops because consumers were not satisfied with them."
Mr Cliffe insisted that his company, set up by two engineers from Bristol University, had developed the most sophisticated encoding, ensuring the HD film or broadcast would not break-up or become pixilated. "The quality is stunning, and the signal can run to 400 meters without any walls." Even with walls, he promised it would work in a house as large as Buckingham Palace.
The one downside to the device is that ? in order to keep Sky, Virgin and the other subscription broadcasters happy ? consumers can only watch one channel at a time.
So while they can watch a Blu-ray Disc in the sitting room, and a Sky programme in the kitchen, if another member of the family wants to watch Sky on their laptop, it will have to be the same channel as the one being beamed into the kitchen.
Mr Cliffe said Provision's technology was still preferable for consumers rather than have the subscription television company drill holes in the wall in order to install a second box.